Early Intervention Services and Support

Early intervention support is available for children from the time they are born until they are settled in school. This page describes the services and support that are available from the Ministry of Education, Special Education and other providers accredited by the Ministry.

Special education needs are defined as those that cannot be met within a regular early childhood setting, home or family, without extra support. The need may be a physical disability, a sensory impairment, a learning or communication delay, a social, emotional or behavioural difficulty, or a combination of these.

Early intervention specialists and support staff from the Ministry of Education, Special Education and other providers accredited by the Ministry, work with children with moderate and severe special education needs. This support is available for children until they are settled in school. It can be provided:

at home

in early childhood education settings, such as kindergartens, kohanga reo and early childhood education centres

If a parent or any of the above believe that a child needs additional support from the Ministry of Education's early intervention team or an accredited provider, they can contact their local Ministry of Education, Special Education office for more information.

Concerns should be discussed with the child's parents/guardians as their consent is required before an early intervention team can work with the child.

The early intervention team

Early intervention staff come from a range of disciplines. They include:

Speech-language therapists

Early intervention teachers

Psychologists

Advisors on deaf children

Resource Teachers: Vision

Kaitakawaenga (Māori liaison advisors)

Education support workers.

The early intervention teams work collaboratively with families/whānau, educators and specialists from other agencies to strengthen and extend children's educational learning. The teams have an in-depth understanding of early childhood development and knowledge of special education in early childhood.

Assessment and planning

Early intervention specialists work alongside families/whānau, educators, other agencies and specialists to:

identify needs early in the child's life

assess the child's skills and needs

set goals for the child

develop a plan to achieve the goals

provide expertise and tools to support the plan

agree on new goals as the child progresses.

Services can include:

guidance for teachers and parents

using techniques based around playing to teach new skills

designing strategies to improve social and learning skills and behaviour management

speech-language therapy

direct teaching support

the development of special resources such as communication aids

co-ordinating physiotherapy, occupational therapy and equipment.

Further reading

Much More Than Words - Monitoring and Encouraging Communication Development in Early Childhood (2001).

Who to contact for more information

For more information about Ministry of Education, Special Education funding and services, please